The iOS 14.5 update will add useful new features, such as unlocking the iPhone with the Apple Watch and alerting other users of traffic accidents using Apple Maps. However, one expected feature will not be added: choosing a new default music service.

Developer testers of iOS 14.5 have noticed that when asking the voice assistant to play music, Siri is asked to specify which service it wants to use. This suggested that users would be able to choose a default service in the final release, but Apple later told TechCrunch that the prompt was simply intended to help Siri understand your app usage habits.

In other words, in the iOS 14.5 beta, you can tell Siri which apps you prefer to listen to music with, but the app you choose will not be permanently set as your default. In fact, according to Apple, Siri may ask again later and try to learn which apps you use for different audio content, such as podcasts.

In theory, this could still allow you to have a de facto "default" app, but you would need to be careful to keep your app usage consistent. For example, if you have been using only Spotify for a while, Siri will learn not to ask you which app to use when you command it to play a song. However, if you then open another app, such as Apple Music, Siri might ask again to make sure you are using the correct app.

In any case, instead of Siri making the choice, you can specify which app to use, for example, by specifying the service with a voice command.

Still, it is disappointing that iOS 14.5 does not also offer the option to set hard defaults for music services, as was initially introduced. Since Apple has added the ability to choose defaults for the web browser and mail app, it is clear that they intend to get people to switch from Apple's own software.

If you would like to try it out for yourself, see how to download the iO5 14.5 public beta; Siri's music selection feature was included in the first version of the beta, then removed, only to be reintroduced later.